France reported a 27.5% decrease of room nights by Russian tourists in August 2009, which was the biggest reduction from all European markets. Germany lost 8% of room nights and 6% of its arrivals from Russia, but still received over 300,000 Russian tourists in the first 8 months of the year.
For Israel, arrivals from Russia in September 2009 increased by 38% compared to last September. August also showed an increase of 35%. A total of 45,000 Russian visited Israel in September, and 34,000 in August. In total, during first 9 months of 2009, over 270,000 Russians visited Israel, which is a substantial increase from 2008 figures.
Hong Kong, which became visa-free for Russians in July 2009, reported a 77% increase in arrivals from Russia in July, 87% increase in August and 50% in September. Overall, from January-September 2009 25,526 Russians traveled to Hong Kong. For winter 2009-2010 Hong Kong will be promoting combined tours to Hong Kong, for sightseeing and shopping, with beach holidays at Hainan. Transaero airlines is also considering opening direct flight from Moscow to Hong Kong in 2010.
Russian arrivals to Croatia in the first 9 months decreased by 23% compared to the same period of 2008, while Montenegro showed a 14% increase in room nights by Russians during January-August. In 2009, where Russians accounted for 15% of all leisure travelers to Montenegro, a 2% increase on 2008.
Demand for Bulgaria remained stable, and 275,000 Russians visited the country in the first 9 months of 2009. On a month by month basis, there was 13% increase in May, 12% increase in June but minus of 20% in September. Russia is the 4th largest source market for Bulgaria, accounting for 6.5% of all inbound traffic.
Concerning other mass market sun and sea destinations, Thailand expects a 6% decrease in arrivals from Russia in 2009, with a total of just under 300,000 Russian tourists expected to visit this year.
While the Antalya area of Turkey noted a 3.3% decline in arrivals from Russia during Jan-Sept 2009 but nevertheless received almost 2 million Russian tourists. Russia is the no.1 source market for Antalya, followed by Germany with 1.7 million arrivals in 2009. Ukraine however experienced a more serious decline of almost 25% to Antalya owing to the difficult economic situation there.